


easy tiger (you're only sixteen going on forever)

by blackkat



Series: Tumblr Drabbles [93]
Category: Naruto
Genre: First Meetings, Friendship, Humor, M/M, Omoi is an anxious ball of neuroses and I love him, friendly reminder that Shikamaru is one of the scariest bastards in the series, they get along great tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-07-03 04:00:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15810888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat/pseuds/blackkat
Summary: C told Omoi to smile, but eventhinkingabout that is exhausting.





	easy tiger (you're only sixteen going on forever)

“It will be fine,” C says, but Omoi _knows_ actually rolling his eyes where Omoi can't see.

“You're not the one getting a _tour_ ,” Omoi insists, trying to lounge back against the wall of the guardhouse the way C is doing and failing utterly. That one guard with the bandage across his nose is watching them. He’s _staring at C_. What if C offended him? What if C did something to that smirking friend of his? What if C _killed his family_ and bandage-chuunin is about to go for that massive kunai blade he’s carrying? C can hold his own, but if they cause a diplomatic incident—

“How does Karui not throttle you,” C asks, bored in a way that means he’s been spending _far_ too much time with Darui. He casts a look over bandage-chuunin, tips his head with a hum, and winks. The guard raises a brow, then grins back, a clear invitation that makes C straighten just a little in interest.

Omoi very definitely is not going to think about that and its myriad possibilities for disaster. With a groan, he unwraps another lollipop and shoves it into his mouth, sucking on it hard to distract from the thought of C breaking bandage-chuunin’s heart and starting an international incident, or bandage-chuunin breaking _C’s_ heart and making A declare war on Konoha, or all the other terrible, awful fates if they keep _looking at each other_ like that. The very least of which is Omoi having to rent a room right next to C and inevitably overhearing _everything_ he gets up to with bandage-chuunin tonight.

…Well. Maybe that’s not the least. That sounds pretty bad all on its own, honestly.

“Remember to smile,” C says, and pushes away from the wall, heading for bandage-chuunin, who rises to meet him with a grin. He’s even shorter than C, and Omoi spends half a minute hoping he won't get offended by that because C is charming when he wants to be but not _that_ charming, and—

A throat clears behind him, and Omoi twitches, turns sharply. The shinobi behind him is one he remembers from the Fourth War—technically the commander of the Fourth Division, with the Kazekage having to split his attention. Also responsible for their battle plans after his father’s death, and Omoi freezes. It’s been two years, but should he say he’s sorry for the loss? Or is it better to gloss over it, and avoid bringing up a painful subject? What if he’s supposed to say something? What if he isn't?

C told him to smile, but even _thinking_ about that is exhausting.

“Hey,” the shinobi says lazily, raising one hand in greeting. “Nara Shikamaru. You're the one I'm showing around?”

“Omoi,” he answers, and—family name. Nara. Omoi remembers C talking about them. They’re strategists, tend to be geniuses, and own a forest. There might have been something in there about deer, too. Omoi can't remember, so he really hopes he’s not expected to know that. “The Hokage said he’d made arrangements. Should I have gone to the Administration Building, or—?”

“This is fine. Less of a walk.” Shikamaru gives him a look, head to toes, and his eyes narrow faintly. “You were the commander of the Surprise Attack Division. With Sai.” Before Omoi can even start to panic about that being a bad thing, he smiles a little and adds, “Thanks for keeping him from having to fight his brother.”

Oh. That’s—that’s a lot better than Omoi expected. He relaxes a little, nodding in return. “I couldn’t let them force family to hurt each other,” he says. And—that’s a specific thing to know about Sai, even for a friend, and Omoi doesn’t want to make a misstep. “Are you and Sai…uh.” He twists two of his fingers, because words are _hard_ , and holds them up in explanation.

For a moment blank horror fills Shikamaru’s face, and then he snaps his hands up, shaking his head hard. “No. _No_. He’s—my teammate Ino and he are friends.” With a grimace, he gives Omoi a pained look, and clarifies, “They talked about it, and she told me. She tells me _everything_.”

Omoi winces, too. Karui does that with him, and depending on the subject it can get…painful. “Does she want a girlfriend?” he asks. “Because I know someone just like that.”

“That wouldn’t stop them,” Shikamaru says, exhausted. “They’d just be twice as bad.”

Omoi opens his mouth to suggest at least introducing them, because a happy Karui is a Karui who sticks to slightly less scarring topics, and has a sudden, vivid memory of the last time they were in Konoha. Karui beat up Naruto. Karui beat up _the next Hokage_ , and here he is suggesting she _come back_ , and what if they take that as a declaration of war? What if Konoha invades Kumo? What if Omoi has to fight against all the people he met and liked in the Fourth War? What if they start _another_ World War? Omoi doesn’t want to be responsible for that.

“On second thought,” he says dazedly, “maybe you're right. I don’t want to start a war.”

Shikamaru’s brows arch, and then he snorts. “Ino's not that bad,” he says with amusement, and tips his head to the right. “Come on, we can follow the wall and then work our way in, unless there's something in particular you want to see.” Dark eyes flicker back towards C, and he smirks. “It looks like Kotetsu is taking care of the rest of the diplomacy.”

Omoi is _not_ looking back. He isn't. He doesn’t want to know. Groans, instead, and bites down on his lollipop. “C’s good at diplomacy,” he says. “He’s probably going to be working at it all night.”

Shikamaru laughs, a little surprised. “Probably,” he agrees, takes one look at Omoi's face, and tucks his hands into his pockets. “There's an open room in my house,” he offers, smirking. “If you want to have a village between you and the inn. The Nara won't care.”

“Yes please,” Omoi says with a relieved sigh. One worst-case-scenario defeated. Of course, it raises twenty more—what if he offends the Nara? What if he doesn’t get along with them? What if the invitation was just polite and he was supposed to decline it? What if he’s invited to dinner and breaks a family heirloom that’s lasted since the Clan Wars and the Nara eat him as recompense?

A hand grips his elbow, steering him off the main street, and Shikamaru says, full of lazy amusement, “You're making me exhausted just _looking_ at you.”

“A little worry is _healthy_ ,” Omoi insists, but he doesn’t resist. It’s nice to be out of the crowd. Fewer chances for causing havoc that way.

There's a long pause as Shikamaru eyes him, then snorts. “I think you’ll like my clan,” he says. “Come on. I’ll show you the Nara Forest first.”

“I wasn’t listening when C told me about the deer,” Omoi confesses, and wonders if this is where he should panic. “If I insult them I don’t want the Nara to eat me.”

Shikamaru gives him a strange look. “The Nara would never. Too much effort.”

That is…actually very comforting, given Shikamaru’s attitude so far. “Good,” Omoi says on a breath, and the lollipop breaks between his teeth. He sighs, swallows the pieces, and pulls a handful out of his weapons pouch. He sorts through them for a moment, comes up with the last yuzu flavor, and on a whim offers Shikamaru one of the strawberry ones.

For a long moment, Shikamaru stares at it, eyes wide. Omoi freezes, panic returning even if he manages to contain it, because what if lollipops are a sign of war in Konoha? What if Omoi has unknowingly started a fight? A will make him lead the first charge, and he’s _seen_ Naruto fight; there's no way he’ll survive. He’s going to die at eighteen, and—

“Thanks,” Shikamaru says, and he’s smiling a little as he takes the lollipop. He unwraps it carefully, studies it for a moment, and takes a lick, then hums. “It’s good.”

Oh, thank _everything_. Omoi lets out a long breath, then stuffs his own candy into the side of his mouth. “You don’t mind strawberry?” he asks in relief.

“I like it,” Shikamaru says with a shrug, but he’s still smiling a little as he casts a look at Omoi. “I've had a pretty good track record with people who share their food with me.”

Omoi has no idea what that means, but— “It wasn’t a marriage proposal!” he protests.

Shikamaru snickers. “I didn’t think it was. But you don’t need to say it like that. You might hurt my feelings.”

Omoi freezes. Does that mean his feelings _are_ hurt? Are he and C going to be chased out of Konoha with spears and swords? Is A going to have him hauled back in chains and—

“You’re hot but I just _met_ you,” he says with a groan, clapping his hands over his eyes. “I don’t want to marry you yet.”

“We’ll work on that, then,” Shikamaru says, but Omoi has spent enough time with Atsui to recognize teasing when he hears it. He gives Shikamaru a halfhearted glare, but Shikamaru pulls him on without even faltering.

“This whole visit is going to end in _disaster_ ,” Omoi decides.

“You're troublesome,” Shikamaru tells him. “Let me show you my family’s deer. Nothing bad will happen in the forest.”

Omoi scoffs. “ _Every_ forest has something weird in it,” he says.

“Yeah, but the weird thing in _our_ forest is just the immortal head of the guy who murdered my teacher,” Shikamaru says lazily, coming to a halt, but he’s watching Omoi's expression.

For a moment, Omoi considers, but—really, what would he do if someone killed Darui in front of him? Or _Samui_?

“He hurt your family,” he says, and meets sharp, dark eyes without faltering. Konoha isn't the same as Kumo, has clans instead of most of its shinobi being clanless, but Omoi gets family.

Shikamaru stares back at him, then tips his head. “Come on,” he says, and starts walking again. “Nara lands are this way.”

Omoi wonders what exactly he’s gotten into here. But—

Well. Maybe there won't be too many things to go wrong if he’s just looking at deer. Shikamaru hasn’t gotten offended yet, after all. And—

Oh no.

“Am I meeting your _mother_? What if she hates me? What if she gets me kicked out of Konoha and then C refuses to speak to me ever again—”

“You're so _troublesome_. Just—stop worrying. For an _hour_. Please.”


End file.
